Dawn J. Benko/The Star-LedgerTeresa Benvenuti of Oak Knoll is The Star-Ledger's Top Performer of the Week in field hockey.

TERESA BENVENUTI, OAK KNOLL

Senior midfielder, 5-6

JUST THE STATS: Benvenuti, a First Team All-State selection a year ago, has picked up right where she left off. She has totaled 15 goals and five assists to help Oak Knoll to a 9-0 mark and the No. 1 ranking in The Star-Ledger Top 20. On Sept. 26, Benvenuti had three goals and two assists as Oak Knoll defeated No. 6 Shawnee, 5-2. On Saturday, Benvenuti had a goal and assisted Ryan McCarthy on the game-winning goal with time expired as Oak Knoll edged No. 8 Bridgewater-Raritan, 3-2.

ON HER TEAM'S FAST START: “Those wins (over Shawnee and Bridgewater-Raritan) were so important. They were the first two big games of the season for us. We’ve worked hard in preparing for them.”

ON SCORING PROCLIVITY: "I really don't look at the stats. My teammates are the reason that I'm able to score. Winning is the most important thing to me."

ON BEING DEFENDING T OF C CHAMPS: “I don’t know that there’s added pressure. We just go out there every game and try to do our best. We know that last season was last season and this is a new year.” Last fall, Benvenuti had 17 goals and 19 assists as Oak Knoll finished a school-best 27-0 and won its first Tournament of Champions title with a 4-2 victory over Eastern.

UNIFORM NUMBER: 13.

NEXT GAME: Thursday (7 p.m.) at No. 13 Johnson (8-0) in Clark. “They are one of our big rivals and there is a lot of history between the two teams. It’s always so much fun to play them. You never know what’s going to happen.”

COACH’S COMMENTS: “Teresa has really stepped up for us. She's a tremendous playmaker. When we need an offensive push or a stick stop, she's always involved in the play. She's just a student of the game and a huge reason for our success." -- Head coach Ali Good.

ON PLAYING FOR OAK KNOLL: "It's really been unbelievable. I've been very fortunate to be able to play here. We have amazing coaches in Ali, Christina (Sumas) and Jen (McCallum). This team is like no other team."

COLLEGE CHOICE: "Princeton."

FAVORITE FOOD: "Any type of pasta."

FAVORITE CLASS: U.S. history. "I like to learn about U.S. history and how things happened in America."

FAVORITE MUSIC: Country musician Luke Bryan.

FAVORITE TV SHOWS: "The Unit" and "24."

FAVORITE MOVIES: "Any of the 'Bourne' movies. They're all great."

FAVORITE SPORTS TEAMS/ATHLETES: "The New York Yankees and Mark Teixeira; the New Jersey Devils and Scott Stevens."

SUPER POWER: "I would want to be able to fly. I would fly to different countries or just go out into outer space."

SUPERSTITIONS: "Our team has a bunch of rituals and traditions but I don't have any personal superstitions."

THREE FOR DINNER: "My brother, Michael, my sister, Christina, and my best friend."